Yuki Kawauchi Runs Seventh Sub-2:10 Marathon

The Japanese marathoner is fresh off a 2:09:36 at the Hamburg Marathon, his fifth of 2014.

Yuki Kawauchi, the Japanese marathoner who is a sporting hero in his native country, has never been one to do things conventionally.

The 27-year-old, who has 35 marathons under his belt and a PR of 2:08:14, raced the Hamburg Marathon on Sunday, his fifth this year, finishing ninth in 2:09:36. By the end of 2014, he hopes to have raced at least 10 high-level marathons.

Kawauchi, who has run below 2:10 on seven occasions, has gained a cult following in distance running circles around the world for his unorthodox approach. He shuns the professional athlete lifestyle, preferring to work full-time, and races almost weekly.

It is in his native Japan, of course, that he is most revered. “In the history of Japanese marathoning, Kawauchi is one of the three most influential people,” says his representative Brett Larner. “He has close to 200 outstanding invitations to run races in Japan at the moment and if he does show up and run, those races will have tens of thousands more than usual out on the course to see him run.”

Kawauchi sat down with Running Times in Hamburg last weekend and explained through a translator why he races so often, how he combines high-level training with full-time employment, and why he’s shooting for a medal at the next Olympics.

Running Times: Were you happy with your performance in Hamburg (2:09:36)?

Yuki Kawauchi: Yes. I had never broken 2:12 before when racing with jet lag, and my goal here was to break 2:10, so I’m very happy.

RT: It’s virtually unheard of for an elite athlete to run high-level marathons so frequently. Why do you do it?

YK: At this point my training cycle is worked out to a one month cycle, so from my regular training I’m able to build up to a peak performance within one month. Because of this, I’m able to plan my schedule so I’m able to race very often. Compared to other athletes at my level, from Monday to Friday, I’m not able to do serious training because I work, so in the morning I do relatively low-intensity running. That allows me to put more into my weekend performances. A lot of the races are serving as workouts, even the marathons. Japanese athletes place a big importance on how many hard long runs you have done before a major marathon. It just happens that I like to do my hard long runs in public, as races, whereas most other athletes do them alone in training

RT: How do you combine full-time employment with elite marathon training?

YK: It’s true that it’s difficult to balance the two. It creates new challenges. I work 40 hours a week in the administration office of a high school, just regular office work. I can only train once a day during the week. In some respects, it’s a restricted schedule, but compared to a lot of elite athletes, I have freedom. I don’t have a coach telling me what I’m trying to do is crazy. If I want to run 10 marathons a year there’s no one telling me not to do it. Being financially independent gives me freedom to do what I want to do and be the athlete I want to be.

RT: What does your typical training week look like?

YK: I run about 140K [86 miles] per week. Monday and Tuesday are just jogging. On Wednesday I do intervals or a tempo run. The intervals might be 10 x 1,000m in about three minutes or just under. I’ll also do interval workouts like 20 x 400m, and that’ll be at a slightly faster pace. Thursday and Friday are just jogging, and if I don’t have a race on Sunday, I’ll do something serious on Saturday like a long tempo run. When I do have a race on Sunday, Saturday will be relatively easy.

RT: Considering you have such a high profile in Japan and such potential with sponsorship and appearance fees, why do you choose to work a full-time job?

YK: On a practical level, government employees are not allowed accept money for outside employment, so I’m not allowed accept sponsorship, sponsor bonuses or appearance fees. On another level, though, I choose that lifestyle because for me, running is not about making money; it’s about having freedom. If I’m running for money, it creates certain needs and requirements that limit my options about where I can race. I’m running for myself, my own goals and my own freedom. I have my own ambitions.

RT: What are your main goals for the year and looking further ahead, your long-term goals?

YK: My aim is to win a gold medal in the marathon at the Asian Games in October. Long-term, I’m targeting the Rio Olympics and the London World Championships in 2017. I’ll be around 30 for those, my peak years. I want to win major medals then, and work towards running 2:06 and show the world that not only Africans can run those times.

RT: Will you keep going until the Tokyo Olympics in 2020?

YK: After the age of 30, you never know what’s going to happen, so we’ll see how that goes. I have other motivations. I want to do little local races in obscure countries. I can see my motivation shifting at some point away from making Olympic and World teams, so I’ll see how that plays out after Rio.

RT: In the marathon and half-marathon, Japan has a massive depth of talent. What is it about the system there that creates so many good distance runners?

YK: It’s all because of the existence of the Ekiden Relays, especially the Hakone Ekiden, which is the University Road Relay Championships. That is so prestigious in Japan. The average stage length is about a half-marathon, so you have hundreds of guys putting all their best years into running that kind of distance, and there’s nobody targeting track. Nobody cares about track. The focus is entirely on the half-marathon as collegiates, and that sets people up to run 2:09, 2:10, when they leave.

RT: What are your racing plans for the rest of the year?

YK: I’m doing a trail marathon in June, then a 50K, and I’m doing the Gold Coast Marathon in Australia in July. I might do the Perth Marathon too. I’ll have the Asian Games in October, and maybe two or three more marathons after that.

RT: Of all the races you’ve run, which one stands out as your favorite?

YK: The single greatest experience so far in my career was at the World Championships in Daegu in 2011 when I was part of the Japanese team that won the silver medal. In terms of a race itself: running the New York Marathon last year. It was eye-opening to see the top level of the sport, and they cheered me like I was one of the big boys. It was really special to be part of that world, so I want to go back there and run up to the level I can.

RT: Any other races you’d really like to do in the future?

YK: Either the Paris or London Marathon.

RT: You’re a hero to many runners, but who are your heroes?

YK: I really respect people who are able to do it over a long career, like Chema Martinez from Spain, Lee Troop from Australia, and Haile Gebrselassie. My goal is to do this for the long haul, so I admire those who had that kind of career. I hope to reach my peak around the age 30, so everything I’m doing now is to reach my peak then.